Here’s the story:

You have or had acne. You wanted to get rid of it. So you got onto Google, or even went to the library if you’re old school, and you started to learn everything you could about it.

Every mention of acne; you absorbed it up. You spent hours researching finding out everything possible that could be lapped up into your brain.

And perhaps in this search, you find more than enough answers.

And maybe you start putting them into action.

But then, the research and subsequent experimentation doesn’t quit. It still happens on a daily basis for maybe even hours per day. You just want more, more, more.

In huge part this is fuelled by anxiety, and feeling like there might be a better answer just around the corner. 

But sometimes it’s a big part because you’re simply filling up time. You’re not really sure what else to do with yourself. And researching acne – or health in relation to acne – has become like a habit, and you do kind of enjoy it… it’s exciting in a way.

Suddenly, before you know it, acne has become your hobby.

Acne Is A Sucky Hobby

Well, let me tell you why I think acne is a sucky hobby. And I know this from experience. I’ve always been someone who is a little bit research obsessive… any time I’m interested in anything, I will go head on and learn everything I possibly can about it, spending hours a day.

So when I came down with the severe acne, it naturally became my hobby very quickly – fuelled very much by my usual pattern of researching something to death, plus the intense anxiety.

I’m not saying researching and learning about a topic of interest as a hobby is a bad thing in any way. But in this case, it can be. Let me tell you why:

It Makes You An Even Shakier Mess of Anxiety

So, you know… say you’ve done some research to get rid of your acne. That’s cool. You’ve found someone you like to learn from (me, maybe?), and you like their acne protocol, and you want to try it.

Obviously you won’t know for sure if it’s going to work until you give it a shot and stay committed to it for a while… but.. okay. You’ve decided you want to try it. And you start putting it into action.

But then, well, you’re really impatient like the rest of us, so you can’t help it and you keep reading more, getting more opinions, reading everything you possibly can to see if there is something bigger, better, more effective to try.

Nothing wrong with second opinions, but seriously – it never ends. You may have noticed that the internet is an extremely contradictory place. And there’s about a thousand bajillion different things – diets, supplements, products – that you could try for your acne that has worked for someone out there in internet land.

In the end, all it does is make you super paranoid and anxious. Because you start second guessing everything you’re doing. You get totally overwhelmed when it comes to choices like what to wash your face with; what kind of food to eat. You feel like you’re missing out and will never clear your acne, because there’s just no way you can try everything out there.

In the end, you might have to correct course with your acne treatment and add or subtract things, or even completely switch it up.

But you know… you have to actually wait and see if it’s going to work or not, and if not, then see if you need to adjust something. The “waiting and seeing” part takes patience, and often you need other things to distract you while you wait it out so you don’t go crazy.

By obsessively researching acne in the mean time, it just makes you second guess everything, and makes you extremely impatient. You’re less likely to stick with something the required amount of time to see if it works, because you really aren’t sure if you’re on the right path at all.

It also causes you to hinge your entire happiness on the ups and downs that you will have to go through to get to the end. Sometimes when you’re healing, it’s lots of “two steps forward, one step back”. If acne is your hobby, those steps back can be devastating because you have nothing else to think about.

You Can Never Get Your Mind Off Your Acne

When acne is your hobby… well, you just are never going to be able to stop thinking about it. Let’s face it, acne as a hobby is something that just happens, not something that you one day thought “Hmm. Acne looks like an interesting passion. I’m think I might give that a try some time”.

No one wants to have acne, so why would you ever want to have acne has a hobby?

Yet, here we are voluntarily using our leisure time to focus all our attention on something we hate.

I mean, if you have acne it’s probably going to be on our mind a lot of the time anyway, but there’s nothing more helpful to your stress levels than doing things you enjoy that don’t have anything to do with acne. Things that allow you to escape thinking about it for a while. Remember – stress is only going to make acne worse, and what is more stressful than acne?!

Plus, all that time spent researching about acne and getting yourself more and more confused, could be better spent doing things that you know are going to have a positive impact on your skin in the real world – like making yourself a nice, healthy meal, or taking your dog for a walk.

Find Other Things to Do That Bring You Joy

If this article is resonating with you, go make a list of some leisure activities that you might really enjoy – or that you already know you enjoy – and keep that list with you. Writing it on your phone might be a good idea.

When you feel the urge to research acne just for the sake of it (even though you darn well know that your cup is more than full with acne information), take a deep breath and resist the urge  – then choose something from your list and do that instead. Do this enough and I promise you’ll be happier with your skin and your life.

Is acne your hobby?